Ministers for Transport from Germany, France, and Luxembourg officially inaugurated the new testing site for autonomous driving for the Saarland-Lorraine-Luxembourg region on Wednesday afternoon in Schengen.
Named the "Cross-Border Digital Testbed Project Day", the authorities chose Schengen as the starting point for the inauguration of this cross-border project, given its position at the border of three countries.
At the moment, the cars in question still require drivers for safety purposes. More broadly, they represent the future and technological progress which will become apparent in all parts of our lives. Experts are convinced that self-driving cars will change our lives.
On Wednesday, ministers proclaimed that autonomous driving will make driving a safer venture and be a success for both mobility and the environment. Now that the first steps have been undertaken, those involved will work to make autonomous driving a reality.
Given the cross-border nature of the pilot project, all three countries must vote on the technology, infrastructure, telecommunications, and insurance related to autonomous driving. However, in the mean time, the cars will continue to have drivers.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy Etienne Schneider highlighted Luxembourg's strategic position in the European automobile industry and claimed that the country is keen to become an area for autonomous driving experiments, remaining at the forefront of technology relating to "cooperative, connected, and automatic" cross-border driving.
